Random Orange Guy

I found out last night that, due to my extreme HBO selling skills, that I won a trip to New York City compliments of HBO! This is not the first time they've awarded me for selling their channel, as last year they gave me a cool thousand bucks.

So, the missus and I will be flying out for the last weekend in July, staying Friday until Tuesday, and we'd love to see some of you!

Now, Saturday night, we will we busy. See, and this is the part Jeff Ream is green with envy about, included with the trip is a VIP party with the cast of the Sopranos. Apparently, we will be walking a red carpet into this private function and everything. It should be very cool. I asked my HBO to ensure that Jamie-Lynn Sigler would be there, just to make Jeff even more jealous.

HBO is putting us up at the ridiculously priced Marquis Marriott in Time Square. Probably the only time in my life I'll be staying in a room that's about $349 a night! It looks spectcular, though!

So, we essentially have 3 other days and nights to have fun, and hopefully, some of you can join us for a drink or something. We already checked, and there is no drum corps in the area that weekend, so no shows for us to catch.

Our last trip there, we had an awesome tour guide (thanks, Liz!), and we'll be looking to do some other things we haven't done yet. Any suggestions??

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I didn't win the Blogger tournament, obviously. I didn't even come close. My poker, in general, has been slumping a little. I'm sure I'll rebound soon, but it's somewhat annoying right now.

Living in Vegas has it's perks. In the past I have written about meeting Kevin Nealon, Penn and Teller, MTV's Kennedy, and many poker players. Today, poker and celebrity combined for me.

I was playing at the Stardust hotel, and was not having any luck at my table, so I requested a change to a new table. I was promptly moved to an empty seat at the other table, and looked directly across the table to see I was sitting with Mena Suvari, star of American Pie, American Beauty and others. For those who know Vegas, and have been to the Stardust, you would know the chances of spotting a celebrity there are about as good as Stu turning straight!

I ended up playing cards with her for about two hours, and was pleasantly surprised to find out how friendly and down to earth she is. We talked about a bunch of different things, joked a little about some of her movies, and basically just had some fun. She's also a decent player, winning a couple hundred while sitting there. She did ask for help from me once, which was kind of cool. She is in town for the weekend, as her boyfriend is a dancer in a show at the Stardust, so I may actually run into her again, as I play there a lot.

We took a picture on the cameraphone, but for some reason, it didn't save. If I see her again, I'll snap another one.

Here's to my next encounter!

Yeah, I know. It's been a while. Remember when I said I didn't know how often I would update this? Told ya.

Most of you who know me know that I play a lot of poker. It's something I enjoy, and I am getting better at it all the time. However, after a great few months around the new year, I'm on somewhat of a slump. It's not that I'm playing any differently, but I just keep getting unlucky. Specifically, KK seems to be my downfall (except at Hawkins' house!). Whenever I get KK, my heart races, I sweat, and I panic, fearing the inevitable. Sure enough, at the Riviera on Saturday night, I look down to see the cowboys. (Sidenote: I've started calling KK Brokeback Mountain. Not sure if I'm the first one to use it, but it made me laugh). I raise to $15, which is a fair amount in a $1-2 game. The short stack at the table pushes all in, for about $40. Everyone else folds to me, and I somewhat reluctantly call. He turns over 10s, and while that may seem good to the average reader, I know what's about to happen. In fact, I say to him "Don't worry, you will get another on the flop." Sure enough, the middle card on the flop was a 10. I don't even bother getting upset about it anymore. I know it's poker, but it's happening to me a lot these days.

I've been playing online (which I hate!) at ActionPoker.com. They have a step promotion going on that gives you a chance to win a WSOP package for as low as a nickel. I put $50 on the site, and I'm trying to climb those steps. But man, it is the absolute worst poker I have ever seen or played. I've had to adjust my style a lot to play with these idiots. Minimum raises, all-ins with 3-5 off, etc... It's rubbish, and I'll be glad to stop playing there. Here's and example of some fine play. I've reached Step 4, and look down to As-Qs. Normally, a raise of about 3-4x the BB would be good, but not on this site. I've learned that you need to make a huge raise to attempt to push off the marginal hands. So, I raise to $250, which is over 12x the blinds. Of course, I get 2 callers. Flop is A-J-x, and I bet the rest of my stack, which is only 600 more. One folds, and the other calls. He shows J-4 suited! He called my raise, and my all in with J-4 suited!! Which of course means...a J hits the turn and I'm out. I'm sure that guy thinks he made a great play, but wow, he actually thought his J was good after the flop. I can't wait to get off this site.

After seeing John's post on PokerStories, I am thinking of joining them on sunday and playing in the WSOP circuit event. I like the room at Caesar's, and I'm sure the payouts will be nice for this event. Perhaps, I'll see you all there!

Ok, Jessi, you've done it. After hearing you did 15 miles in 3 hours Sunday, I am raring to go. I tested my foot this past Saturday, and it hurts. But it's time to suck it up and deal with it. I really need to push hard these next 8 weeks so that I'm not dying on the course during the run. This marathon is a goal I set for myself, and I am pissed with myself for not trying harder. Is it going to be more difficult with this foot injury? Absolutely. But I can do it.

More training today as we prepare for our launch of digital telephone. Without boring everyone who reads this blog (which at current count, is one person), digital telephone is basically voice over ip phone service, with the added security of a backup battery in case of a power outage. Fun, eh? Yeah, not so much.

My foot is still hurting me. I didn't start physical therapy like my doctor suggested. I'm thinking I should. The freaking marathon is about 9 weeks away. I need to kick it into high gear, or I'll never make it to the end.

I have been invited to the grand opening of the new Blue Man Group show, Bluephoria, at the Venetian hotel next Monday. It's the official opening, rumored to have some celebrities in attendence, followed by a VIP party at Tao, the newest nightclub to hit the Las Vegas strip. I am a huge Blue Man fan, so I'm wicked stoked for this. (Do people say stoked anymore? Hmmm...) Apparently, it takes a lot of the stuff from the former show at the Luxor, and combines it with stuff from the Complex Rock Tour, with additional new stuff thrown in. I can't wait!

Ok, so I guess I'm not playing in the tournament below. Turns out, your blog needs to be two months old or older. Whoops. Ah, well. Good luck to John the Geeeek.

So, for those who may be reading about me for the first time, I am currently in training to run in the Las Vegas Marathon, but I've had a set back, and pulled my Achille's tendon. You can read about it on my running blog. So, I thought it was getting better, but it today climbing the stairs, it was still quite sore. I really want to run this weekend, so I hope it gets better by then. I'm going to try to run a little tonight and see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Not much else new with me today. I'm currently in training class at work for our new digital telephone product. Thrilling.